Take-up mechanism for looms



Jan. 1 1924 J. NORTHROP TAKE-UR MECHANISM FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 11, 1919 Jam. 1 9 11924 J. NORTHROP TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Au 11 1919 2 sheets-sheep 2 Patented Jan. 11, 19241.

entree srares JONAS NORTHROP, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HOPEDALE MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS,

CHUSETTS.

A CORPORATION OF MASSA- TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

Application filed August'll, 1919. Serial No. 316,549.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONAS NoRTHRor, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hopedale, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts; have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Take-Up Mechanism for Looms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as 0 will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in take-up mechanisms for looms. The object of the invention is to reorganize and improve the construction of take-up mechanisms for looms and to this end the invention consists in the take-up mechanism hereinafter described and particularlydefined in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents in elevation a portion of a loom showing the improved take-up mechanism and Fig.2 is fin enlarged view of the left-hand portion of In general the take-up mechanism comprises a wind-up mechanism, automatic letback mechanism actuated upon the absence of filling to let back the cloth and a device for automatically limiting the amount of letback having provision whereby different rades of cloth are let back a uniform numer of picks without adjustmentof the device to compensate for changes in the grade of cloth. Provision is also made for operating the let-back mechanism independently of the limiting device.

The take-up mechanism illustrated in the drawings is described as follows: Thecloth 10 is wound upon a wind-up roll 12 yieldingly maintained against a draw roll 13 so as to be frictionally driven thereby. The draw roll 13 is positively rotated by means of the gear train 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. The gear 19 is known as the change gear, and is adjustably mounted in a slotted bracket 29. The number of teeth on the change gear 19 bear a fixed relation to the grade of cloth or fabric, or in other words to the number of picks of weft per inch. When coarse fabrics are to be woven the gear 19 is re laced by another of decreased size and for ner fabrics the size of the change gear 19 is increased. In each case the position of the gear is adjusted in the slotted bracket 29.

The change gear 19 meshes with a worm 20 on a shaft 21 driven from the cam shaft 22 by bevel gears 11. The detail features of the construction of the wind-up mechanism may be of any desired type, and are familiar to those skilled in the art.

The worm 20 is adapted to be moved out of engagement with the change gear 19 and subsequently moved into engagement therewith by a mechanism which is described as follows; The shaft 21 carrying the worm 20 is supported in a bracket 23, slidably mounted on studs 24, 25. The studs 24, 25, are extended from a second bracket 26 bolted to the loom frame, and cooperate with slots 27, 28 in the first'braeket 23 to permit vertical movement thereof upon the second bracket 26. The stud 24 is provided with a cam 30 pivotally mounted thereon, adapted to engage cam lugs 31 and 32 extended from the surface of the bracket 23 and arranged so that movement of the cam 30 causes movement of the bracket 23 vertically upwards and then vertically downwards as the cam is oscillated back and forth.

The oscillations of the cam 30 are controlled and actuated by the movement of the weft hammer 33 and detector slide 34; when filling is absent. The weft hammer 33 is oscillated back and forth in the usual manner, deriving its motion from a cam 50 upon the cam shaft 22 through the lever 51 pivoted upon the bolt 52 secured upon the bracket 53. The usual filling fork 35 is provided with a tail 36 adapted to engage a hook 37 on the weft hammer 33 when the filling fork 35 is not tilted, or in other words, when filling is absent. When the tail 36 engages the hook 37 upon filling absence, the forward movement of the weft hammer 33 causes the detector slide 341 to engage a rock lever 41 and to move thesame outwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. The rock lever 41 is mounted upon the rock shaft 45 being secured thereon by a set screw 46.

A. change lever 42 is pivotally securedupon the rock lever 41 by a pin 57, andthe relative movements of the change lever 42 upon the rock lever 41 are controlled by a bolt 58 and nut 59. A slot 74 in the change lever 42 cooperates with the bolt 58 to permit movement thereof independently of the rock lever when it is desired to let back the cloth independently of the weft hammer as will be described. The lower endof the change lever 42 is connected by a link 47 to the end of a cam arm 48 formed integrally upon the cam 30. When the rock lever 41 is moved outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 2, the bolt 58 engages the end of the slot 74 so that both levers 41 and 42 move as one about the rock shaft 45 as a pivot so that the cam 30 is turned to the left causing the bracket 23 to drop from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. As the bracket 23 drops it carries the worm 20 with it out of engagement with the change gear 19. A lug 38 serves as a stop to limit the oscillationof the cam arm 48 as shown in Fig. 1 and a coil spring 39 serves to assist in returning the cam arm 48 and associated members when the weft hammer moves rearwardly. The relative movement of the lever 41 and cam arm 48 may be adjusted by securing the link 47 to any of the holes 49 in the lever 42. 1

After the worm 20 has been disengaged from the change gear 19, tension in the cloth 10 causes the change gear to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction in order to let back the cloth.

The amount of let-back, in the present instance, is controlled by limiting the amount of reverse movement of the change gear 19. For this purpose a pawl 60 is arranged so that its tip engages the teeth of the change gear 19 at all times. The body portion of the pawl 60 is provided with a slot 62 in which is received a stud 63 adjustably secured in a slotted bracket 64. As the change gear 19 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, the pawl 60 is also moved on the stud 63 until the end of the slot 62 engages the stud 63 thus preventing further movement of either the pawl 60 or change gear 19. The distance corresponding to the number of teeth through which the change gear 19 is rotated bears a fixed relation to the distance which thecloth is let back so that by adjusting the position of'the awl in the slotted bracket 64 the amount 0 let-back of the cloth can be controlled to any extent desired. The pawl is provided with a set screw 65 which serves to limit the movement thereof upon the stud 63 in one direction and with a coil spring 66 which yieldingly resists the movement of the pawl 60 by the change gear 19, andserves to move the pawl upwards immediately when the change gear 19 is rotated in a clockwise direction.

When the weft hammer 33 returns from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1, the change lever 42 is returned to the position shown in Fig. 1 by the usual coil spring (not shown) which operates to rotate the rock shaft 45. As the change lever 42 is rotated, the cam 30 is likewise turned causing the first bracket 23 and "worm 20 carried thereby to move upwardly with relation to the second bracket 26 into .of either increased reverse the position shown in Fig. 1 in which the worm 20 engages the change gear 19. The change gear 19 is thereupon rotated in a clockwise direction carrying the pawl upwardly into a position as shown in Fig. 1 where further movement of the change gear 19 operates merely to cause the pawl to slide over the teeth of the gear 19.

For some purposes it is desired to disengage the worm 20 from the change gear 19 independently of actuation of the weft hammer 33. For this purpose the pawl 60 is provided with a handle 68 by which it may be rotated upon the stud 63 as a pivot. A projecting lug 69 is secured to the end of the pawl arm 70 by a bolt 71 and nut 72, and is arranged so that as the pawl 60 is manually swung about the stud 63 as a pivot, the lug 69 engages the end of the change lever 42 causing the same to swing about the pivot pin 57 independently of the rock lever 41, thus operating through the link 47 and cam arm 48 to rotate the cam 30 so/ as to lower the bracket 23 to cause the disengagement of the worm 20 from the change gear 19. In this manner the cloth may be let back manually to any extent desired whereupon by rotating the pawl in the reverse direction into engagement with the teeth of the change gear 19, the cam arm, link and lever are returned to their original positions by the action of the coil spring 39, one end of which is secured to a stud -on the cam arm 48 and the other end to a stud 81 on the bracket 23.

If desired the let-back mechanism may also be operated by manually movin the change lever 42 to the right, thereby t rowing the worm 20 out of engagement with the change ear 19. When a different grade of cloth is to be woven, the change ear 19 is replaced by one which is adjusted in the slotted bracket 29 until the awl 60 properly engages the teeth thereof. he idler gear 17 is also adjusted in its slotted bearing so as to mesh with the pinion 18 and gear 16. The adjustment of or decreased diameter, I

the pawl 60 in the bracket 64 is not altered y when the size of the change gear is varied. The amount of let-back is always determined by the screw 65 and the adjustment of the position of the pawl in the bracket 64 owing to the fact that the pitch of the teeth of all change gears is the same.

An important feature of the invention is the design of cam 30 whereby the worm 20 is locked both in mesh and out of mesh with the change gear 19, so that the worm 20 cannot be moved either into, mesh with or out of mesh with the change gear 19 without movement of the cam 30.

Another feature of the invention is the cooperation of the pawl 60with the change gear 19 for the reason that once the pawl the desired amount of let-back, further adjustments are unnecessary when difl'erent sizes of change gears are employed, for the reason that with the given adjustment, the pawl will operate to let back a certain number of teeth, which bears a fixed relation at all times to a given number of picks of weft.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A take-up mechanism for looms having, in combination, driving members including a worm and gear, and means for moving the worm into and out of engagement with the gear including a cam, said cam being shaped to lock the Worm in both positions.

2. A take-up mechanism for looms having, in combination, driving members including a worm and gear, and means for moving the worm into and out of engagement with the gear including a cam, said cam being shaped to lock the worm in mesh with the gear.

3. A take up mechanism for looms having,

in combination, driving members including a worm and gear, means including a cam, and a cooperating bracket for movin worm into and out of engagement wit the gear, said cam having surfaces engaging with the bracket in a manner to lock the worm in either position.

4. A loom having, in combination, atakeup mechanism including a change gear, driving means for the change gear, a change lever for disengaging the driving means from the change gear, a let-back mechanism including a pawl provided with a longitudinal slot, a stud on which the pawl is slidably mounted, a spring bearin' between the stud and one end of the slot, a epending extension for the awl adapted to engage the change lever to disengage the driving means when the pawl is swung outwardly, and a handle upon the upper end of the pawl for manually swingin the awl.

JON s NORTHROP.

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